CHICAGO (Reuters) - Adding just a small dose of a
clot-busting drug to standard treatment for strokes caused by
bleeding in the brain dramatically reduced death and disability
among victims, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

Normally, only about 20 percent of people survive this type
of stroke, known as an intracerebral hemorrhage, which accounts
for 17 percent of all strokes.

But when doctors used a clot-busting drug plus a catheter
to clear out blood from the brain in a study of 50 patients,
more than 80 percent of the stroke victims survived.

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"Getting the blood out of the middle of the brain
significantly improved their chances of survival," said Dr.
Daniel Hanley of the Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine, who presented his findings at the European Stroke
Conference in Nice, France.

The clot-busting drug tissue plasminogen activator or tPA
is typically reserved for breaking up blood clots in the more
common type of stroke known as ischemic stroke, which is caused
when a blood clot impedes blood flow to the brain.

When given with the first three hours of stroke symptoms,
tPA can bust the clot and significantly reduce death and
disability.

But tPA is typically not used in strokes associated with
bleeding because it might increase bleeding, making matters
worse.

Hanley said his team administers a small amount of the drug
tPA through a catheter to dissolve any clots, helping to clear
blood out of the damaged area of the brain faster.

He said the dose is far smaller than what might be used to
break up clots from a heart attack or other types of strokes.

So far, more than 80 percent of 50 patients treated this
way survived after one month, and 10 percent of these had
recovered enough to return to their jobs.

"We're seeing up to 40 percent of patients being capable of
independent activity within 180 days," Hanley said.
Historically, under normal care, only about 10 percent of
patients are able to function independently within that time
frame, he said.

And the drug proved to be relatively safe. Hanley said only
6 percent of 50 patients treated this way experienced a second
episode of bleeding.

"We think that this treatment is the most promising story
in brain hemorrhage in many years," Hanley said in a statement.
"We've taken a condition that used to have an extremely high
rate of death and disability and turned it around."

The researchers are now planning to test this treatment in
500 patients.